Sunday, January 06, 2008

Every year at Christmas the boys get a gift from Dan and I in addition to their gifts from Santa. This year Ethan really wanted us to get him an Ipod. My feelings were mixed because I knew it would cause problems over the music he wanted to put on it and what we felt was appropriate for him. Before Christmas we told him many times that if he ended up getting an Ipod that he would have to follow the rules as to what songs he was allowed to listen to and that we didn't want an arguement every time we told him "no" about a song. He agreed. So....

On Christmas he got his Ipod plus an iTunes gift card. Until this weekend we have been able to come to a compromise about his music. Over the weekend he had a friend spend the night and he brought his Ipod over. He let Ethan listen to some of his songs(or at least partially due to our intervening) and now Ethan wants a song called Soulja Boy and Sexy Boy on his Ipod. Of course this is NOT going to happen! We do not allow our boys to listen to any type of music that is suggestive in nature. We do not feel it is appropriate for our 10 year old son to be listening to "Sexy Boy." What positive message can this song possibly have for a 10 year old?

I understand that Ethan wants to be like his friends and enjoy similar music but I hope to teach him that you need to make good choices and that you don't need to follow the crowd. I know this is hard for a 10 year old to understand but it needs to be instilled at a young age. I remember what it was like for me when all my friends were allowed to do something and I was not. It IS hard. In the end it is OUR responsibility to instill our values in our children.

The compromising will continue and I am sure we will still have some disagreements but I hope that one day Ethan will realize we made these rules because we love him and want the best for him.

2 comments:

UGHH! I know exactly what you mean. We have a 16 year old nephew who listens to much older music than we think is appropriate for Jon Milledge but of course Jon Milledge thinks it is "cool". We have had to make the same decisions about his I-pod and it was hard and Jon Milledge didn't like it.You are doing the best thing for him even though it isn't his favorite. I tell my boys all the time that God didn't put me here to be their friend but to be their mother and if I am doing my job, there are going to be times when they don't like what I do or say!